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Jackson said the bill doesn’t suppress registration from any local groups wanting to have voter registration drives, Jackson said after saying Tennessee is one of few states that doesn’t require some type of registration and assesses penalties for the groups affected by the bill.

State Senator Ed Jackson, District 27, listens to speakers at a candidate forum hosted by the West Tennessee Development Caucus at Country Inn & Suites in Jackson, Tenn., on Thursday, Oct. 18, 2018. (Photo: Henry Taylor / The Jackson Sun)

There were more than 50,000 voter registration forms turned in at the deadline before Election Day in 2018 in Shelby County.

“A lot of those forms were filled out wrong with one name or an incomplete address or the name of a person who was dead or never existed, and it created a lot of unnecessary work for the people and back up everything they had to do before the election,” said Ed Jackson, the State Senator from District 27 who proposed SB0971, the voter registration bill that would require “election officials to inspect filings for sufficiency and timeliness; establishes conclusive presumption that accepted filings are sufficient and timely filed.”

Jackson said while Memphis and Shelby County had the largest amount of filings at deadline last year, it was a problem across the state.

“It was a problem in Davidson, Knox and Hamilton counties too, and that’s the four big metropolitan areas of the state where the preparation for election process was held up ahead of a heavily contested race for Governor and Senator,” Jackson said.

The bill doesn’t suppress registration from any local groups wanting to have voter registration drives, Jackson said after saying Tennessee is one of few states that doesn’t require some type of registration and assesses penalties for the groups affected by the bill.

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State Senate for District 27, Ed Jackson, arrives at an election night watch party at Madison County Republican Headquarters in Jackson, Tenn., on Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2018.(Photo: Henry Taylor/The Jackson Sun)

“We want more voters registered, and we want those registered voters to show up on Election Day and cast their ballot,” Jackson said. “And this bill does nothing against any local groups who want to do that like the League of Women Voters, Boy Scouts of America, church groups, corporations or anything like that.

“The only groups that would be unlawful according to this bill are groups that come into an area, pay people to get forms filled out for people and then leave. Those were the groups who held up the process last year.”

Jackson added the bill doesn’t make the practice of paying people to register voters unlawful. He said it requires training and accountability for those who will register voters.

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State Senator for District 27 Ed Jackson, right, speaks with Chris Todd, center, and Glen Gaugh, left, during an election night watch party at Madison County Republican Headquarters in Jackson, Tenn., on Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2018.(Photo: Henry Taylor/The Jackson Sun)

“Those wishing to register voters would need to go to the local election commission headquarters and fill out a form for themselves. It would take just a few minutes,” Jackson said. “And then they’d have to go through online training and watch a video about properly registering voters.

“And if there are a lot of forms improperly filled out, those who registered them will need to be the ones to track them down to make sure everything was done the right way.”

Reach Brandon Shields at bjshields@jacksonsun.com or at 731-425-9751. Follow him on Twitter @JSEditorBrandon or on Instagram at editorbrandon.